Finding Love + The Biggest Atlantic Salmon of my Life in Norway

[Music] [Music] Norway has always held a special place in my heart I first traveled there six years ago to see if I could hook into one of their famed Atlantic salmon let's make a long story short I left without landing a fish but it end up meeting my future husband we were sharing an old farmhouse that sat on one of the most famous runs on the Galla river I had just woke up and walked out of that door right there and Charles was standing right here bringing on his waders I walked outside and her eyes met and it was literally like in the movies it doesn't get dark out for 24 hours a day during the summer months in Norway so we have plenty of time to get to know each other better before long we'd fallen in love around a campfire at a fishing spot just upstream and across the railway tracks from the house we were staying at there must be some sort of magic in that Norwegian air because I've been back twice since my second trip back was just as tough as the first only a little harder to breathe and with a lot more bathroom breaks I was pregnant and starting to feel it Charles was on his way to Russia so we arranged to meet up for a few days in Norway before he left pretty it is what time is it it's like what o'clock in the morning hello baby today your dad and I have met up in Norway again where we first met four years later and you're in there I mean that's the fly box that's that big bug but you are in there and making quite the bug so anyway we're very excited to see you and we will come back with you when you're a little bit older do you everything you want to say I stayed on to fish in the podcast Parana Berg who is the owner of the Norwegian fly fishers club and one of our dear friends well the camaraderie was excellent and the fish were biting they just weren't biting anything I was throwing at them I went home a little bum that I still hadn't caught a fish in the mighty Galla River two years later at the kiddo and I arranged to fly in from Canada to meet Charles in Norway we flew from Smithers to Seattle Seattle to Frankfurt and Frankfurt to Oslo where Charles was set to fly with us to Trondheim please take your seat belt off you can see if I could have one right it was surreal coming back to Norway with the man I met there and the baby who'd been there but I hadn't actually been there okay Adelaide what country are we in Norway Norway the river had been on the rise with a recent influx of rain and we were starting to think that we may have timed it right the gala river pours directly into the ocean and is famous for its fresh Atlantic salmon it's a wide river perfect for spade casts and large swung flies our drive from the airport went by fast and soon we were settling into another farmhouse that would be our home for the next couple weeks we checked into the lodge to pick up our angular rotation and map the Calla river operates on a beat system which means as opposed to in the US or in Canada where you have public water where anyone can access it put on float or wade here in Norway the vast majority at least of salmon rivers are privately owned by land owners it's their riparian rights so they own a farm and where that farm pours into the river that piece of riverfront is their feet or their piece of River so what we do is we lease water from farmers based on the pool or a certain stretch we lease it exclusively so every six hours for 24 hours you get a new piece of River a new pool to fish on so with this rotation every six hours new fishing you're constantly changing in different parts of the river the 24 hours of light keeps things interesting especially if you end up getting your favorite beet at midnight nice work honey what time was that at Wow on our first full day of fishing the weather cleared up and we were excited and in a hurry to get our lines in the water but bright clear conditions can make the fishing tricky so when the clouds moved in in the next few days we weren't exactly bummed the water was getting some color in it which is great we really need that hopefully this get the fish to bite so we hit our morning beat and tied on some large flies make happen yeah all right cameras going away then thanks Rick how you doing let's have a look at him he's not hooks coming up oh well oh honey we landed that right in the nick of time that was so exciting did you hear she was yeah we are not skunked so my little fishing buddy and I just kept at it fishing hard but still taking time to explore forge roast hot dogs and dance obviously by now I'd put in ten days and had yet to bring a fish to hand my shoulders were sore and my confidence was diminished but I was determined to do my best to show my little girl what these fish are all about so we stuck with it and kept on trying cast swing bounce repeat cast swing bounce repeat until I probably should have filmed this last night but I was just honestly too excited to remember to pull up the camera but we decided that we were gonna have a late family night so we were gonna stay out till midnight and because we had a beat till from 6 p.m. till midnight we decided that we were going to put in the whole time so I went through and hooked and lost one and was absolutely gutted I made the mistake of borrowing this stupid setup with this real they kept seizing about that able the first little bit of jam up sets the hook then when it goes light drag make small adjustments you know what about the second bit of drag and then the third and then the fourth and then the freight train stop and then the and then the free spool anyway back to the Far Lex it was just a complete cluster you know what so went back to you again after we take some time to settle and have a barbecue and sure enough it happened just like so it was just worth every single second of disappointment to know that that was gonna be my first fish caught on the gala and all at that magical spot after that Charles caught a couple nice fish and any pressure we put on ourselves dissipated see that banana tree at the last one we fish so it was a toss-up whether or not we should fish on our last day we had to be at the airport that afternoon but the spot I'd caught my fish a few days earlier was on our way out of town and it just happened to be a part of our rotation at the moment Charles took over baby duty at the car while I slipped into my waders to make a quick 10 casts for the first time ever in my life the whole one last cast thing actually paid a hot hasn't even started it is it's a big fish the banana does it again there was just one problem Charles was dressed for the airport so we made the switch [Applause] and they're in my hands lay the biggest Atlantic salmon I had ever caught [Applause] [Applause] we're just going to hang out now relax for our last 25 minutes and let that all just sink in [Music] it was nice to leave our special spot on such a high note we said our goodbyes and took one last look around the place that brought the three of us together when I first came to Norway all those years ago I thought I knew what happiness was and now standing in that exact same spot filled with my family's laughter it's clear to me that I was happy but not necessarily fulfilled not like this anyway and certainly not like a woman who took three trips to land a 30-plus pound beauty of an Atlantic salmon [Music] ten years you'll be doing this little pretty and understanding right next ten years

Channel: Anchored Outdoors with April Vokey

Views: 32,114

Rating: 4.9326601 out of 5

Keywords: April Vokey, Norway Fishing, Fly Fishing, Atlantic Salmon, Big Fish

Id: 0xy8tduYUkE

Length: 10min 50sec (650 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 19 2019